Top Essays USB Drive

This USB drive contains 100 of the top This I Believe audio broadcasts of the last ten years, plus some favorites from Edward R. Murrow's radio series of the 1950s. It's perfect for personal or classroom use! Click here to learn more.

I believe that we all have the power to endure some sort of pain, hardship, or trouble. I believe that the world is as it is because of our ability to endure and survive.

When I was a young child in kindergarten, I was taunted by this kid for wearing a pair of glasses and called “four eyes”. That first day of the torture by this antagonist of my youth, I walked out of the school building with teary eyes. My mother knew nothing of this, and thought that I might have hurt my self by being clumsy as most young children are. However, the next day, I came home crying again. My mother knew something was wrong, and confided with me.

Another antagonizing event in my life was this one other time during my elementary school. It was decided that after half the math class failing a fairly important test, our teacher wanted to either vent her frustrations to us about us failing or she really did care about us. However at the time, we all thought it was the former of the two. Yet, enduring this teacher’s scolding taught me something new: to prepare for the things in life that will be tough.

And yet, this belief that had almost hardened itself in my mind had continued to vacate the corners of my mind. One day in one of my sleepy science classes, I thought about evolution. If the idea of evolution is true, then that means we all had to endure some sort of pain in order to become better creatures.

All humans eventually will have to endure some sort of pain, no matter how perfect their world seems. We cannot escape this reality. Yet, this pain that cannot escape us is what makes us human. It makes us aware of the outside world.

This power to endure helped me realize something now that I wouldn’t have learned by any other means. It taught me that the world is a harsh place, there will always be antagonists in our lives, and that the power to overcome adversity or to endure is one of the greatest powers that we all have. This I believe.

Essay of the Week

When Alexxandra Shuman was in eighth grade, she was diagnosed with clinical depression. But it took more than medication for her to feel happy again. Ms. Shuman believes she has to look in the right places on her journey to finding happiness. Click here to read her essay.

What Students Believe

Throughout the school year, young people around the world write statements of belief as a classroom exercise. And thousands of those students have submitted their essays to our series. Click here to read a sampling of what young people believe.